


In Dreaming Sleep

by azurefishnets



Category: Chrono Trigger
Genre: Cats, Gen, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 12:24:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21253355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azurefishnets/pseuds/azurefishnets
Summary: Where did all the cats in Zeal go?





	In Dreaming Sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MarsDragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsDragon/gifts).

The kitten stared out from under the bed, eyes narrowed and angry as it hissed and yowled at the blue hand swiping at it. The Nu tried to squeeze further under the bed to reach it, but was frustrated by their own roundness and unable to eke out any more reach from its short arms.

“What are you doing there?”

The nu startled and bumped their head on the bed, then scrambled back. The young master stood in the doorway, his sister behind him, their gaze on the Nu alight with interest.

“It’s time to feed the cat!” The Nu waved a bowl of steaming cat food glop, evidently freshly-made. The kitten yowled but didn’t come forward, its interest in the food not overcoming its dislike of the Nu.

Master Janus frowned. “I always feed Alfador. Your services aren’t necessary.” He turned to his sister and whispered, slightly too loudly, “Why did the Guru build these things? They’re creepy.”

Schala replied, “Janus, that isn’t nice. The Nu are trying their best.” She gave the Nu a kind smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll take it from here.”

“Nu…” The Nu held the bowl in their hands uncertainly. “Was told the cat must be fed.”

The young master stalked forward and grabbed the bowl. “I _told_ you, I always feed Alfador. Get out.” He dropped to his knees and his voice turned more coaxing. “Come on, Alfie, it’s okay… that thing won’t hurt you…”

Schala sighed. “Please tell whoever asked you to feed the cat that we’ve got it taken care of, and I apologize for my brother.” She patted the Nu gently on their head. “Don’t worry. All will be well.”

The Nu fled down the hallway, all their programming in an uproar. They had failed. What now? With a blip of their internal mechanisms, they flipped through timelines, hunting for one in which they had succeeded, but this had been their last chance. With a low moan, they fled through the palace and through the paths known only to the Nu, into the secret room in Enhasa. Their other bodies lay tumbled on the floor, all of Zeal’s cats lying draped over them and purring contentedly, soporific magic filling the air and permeating beyond the walls.

“Couldn’t feed the young master’s cat… nu….” The Nu sat, dejected. Another cat crawled onto their head and immediately began kneading as she purred thunderously.

Belthasar, sitting at his desk and writing furiously, didn’t look up. “Is Janus’s cat the last one remaining?”

The Nu nodded, carefully, so as not to dislodge the now-sleeping cat. “Should I try again?”

Belthasar shook his head. “No… I’ll talk to Schala later and make her see what we’re doing. We have little choice.” He stretched and stood, carefully picking his way around the tumble of cats and Nu to the center of the room.

“I’ll be back soon. Let the cats sleep for a while, then feed them if they want it. We’ll finish this tonight.” He looked around vaguely as he patted his books fondly, then scratched the Nu in the spot on its back that made it wriggle and stretch contentedly. “You can nap too, if you want. The dream could always use a little reinforcing. Make sure they’re sweet dreams though, if you can; they’ll need it later.”

The Nu closed their eyes, cats purring sweetly all around them, and slid into sleep as Belthasar used his personal transportation glyph to warp to the Palace.

Many hours later, all was quiet and still in Enhasa as the three Gurus blinked back into existence in the room, Schala in tow. As soon as she solidified, the yawn hit her and she staggered. Shaking her head to keep herself awake, she walked to the door and opened it, peering out into the darkened and still city. All the inhabitants lay asleep where they’d fallen, sleep magic holding them all firmly.

“Again, I have to ask: why?” She turned back to them, her gentle face set in a frown. “This seems wrong. Harmful to both my people and to these poor cats.”

“No, princess, look more closely,” Belthasar urged her. “See? They are happy in their dreaming. Safe, warm… comfortable, even. And the dream provides power to spare.”

“If we don’t need it all then why go this far?” Schala reached up and grasped her pendant, fiddling with it nervously.

“We can store it, hold it in abeyance, and then use it as necessary,” Melchior eagerly explained, gesturing to the city beyond. “A utopia, eternally happy and wanting for nothing.”

“But at the cost of these people and cats?” Schala shook her head. “That’s too much.”

“No, no, no, princess, we haven’t explained it clearly.” Gaspar said. “That’s the best part—once we move the cats to their new home they’ll be secure and comfortable forever and the people will wake. We have an excess of dreaming here but they will siphon it, and these felines will provide dream power in a place where they’ll be held in eternal sleep, safe and happy.”

“Eternal sleep? And where is this new home to be?”

“In the Sun Palace, princess. They’ll be taken care of by the Nu. Life begins with Nu! Who better than them to preserve it?” Belthasar grinned broadly.

Schala sighed. “And this is why your Nu servant tried to kidnap Alfador?”

“Oh, er, well…” Belthasar’s smile fell and he avoided her eyes. “Well, yes, perhaps…”

Schala absently reached down, patting a purring kitten on top of a sleeping Nu. It mewed and stretched, nuzzling against her hand. “I… don’t think I can sanction this. I’m sorry. I know you think it would be our saving, but I won’t sacrifice lives for the sake of power. Not to mention taking people’s beloved pets.”

“But, princess, you don’t understand!” Belthasar wrung his hands.

Gaspar said, “Belthasar, stop. You heard the princess.” He turned to Schala. “We hear and obey, princess. The cats will go back to their places by morning.”

“See that it’s so.” Schala nodded firmly, pivoting on her heel and striding out of the secret room. “I’ll see myself out.” The door swung closed behind her.

Melchior met the other Gurus’ eyes, his mouth set in a grim line. “We all know this has to happen, and tonight. It will be too late soon.”

Gaspar nodded. “The Queen’s already said we have to go forward. She’ll stop at nothing, and at least this protects… something. Maybe even everything, if the dream is sweet enough.”

Belthasar sighed. “So we do this anyway. Better to ask forgiveness…”

“What about Alfador?” Melchior asked, frowning.

“Leave him be. The prince has little enough comfort as it is with the Queen gone mad and his sister so busy.” Belthasar nodded to himself, than gestured to the room of cats and Nu. “Let’s get them gathered to the center so we can teleport them. The Sun Palace is ready.”

Schala was kept so busy in the following days she had no time to worry about the Gurus and their plans, and if the power of Enhasa’s dreams was much stronger, and tinged with dreams of sunlight and butterflies, no one was there to remark on it when the Gurus, Janus, and the strange visitors were blown out of time, leaving one lonely kitten to wait anxiously for his owner in the earthbound lands below.

Thousands of years later, when a greedy man disturbed the stasis, the cats, displaced in time, fled. They were gathered in and cared for by a strange magician with a mission… but that is the beginning of another story.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy ToT 2019! I hope you enjoyed this very silly answer to your question about where the cats went. I'm sure the Nu did their best.


End file.
